Stretchable fringe



July 5 g MEDNxCK 3,258,942

S TRETCHABLE FRINGE Filed Sept. 2l, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. LEO M E D N [CK July 5, 1966 l.. MEDNICK STRETCHABLE FRINGE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 2l, 1964 INVENTOR. LEO M E D NICK July 5, 1966 l.. MEDNICK STRETCHABLE FRINGE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 2l, 1964 INVENTOR. L E 0 M EDN ICK July 5, 1966 l.. MEDNICK 3,258,942

STRETCHABLE FRINGE Filed Sept. 21, 196g INVENTOR. LEO MEDN IC K ATTORNEYS.

6 Sheets-Shey L. MEDNICK STRETCHABLE FRINGE l' July 5, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 2l, 1964 INVENTOR.

M E DN IC K LE O ATTUHWEYS.

United States Patent 3,258,942 STRETCHABLE FRINGE Leo Mednick, 337 E. Roosevelt Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19120 Filed sept. 21, 1964, ser. No. 397,777 7 Claims. (Cl. 66-193) This invention relates to a stretchable fringe, and more particularly, to a stretchable fringe adapted to be used in the upholstering and covering of furniture.

It is a common practice in the furniture art to have a dependent skirt around the base of furniture, thereby covering the legs of the furniture. In many instances, this dependent skirt will comprise a fringe. This fringe is used in both the upholstering of furniture and in slip covers for the furniture. Prior to this invention the fringe generally used was woven or knitted from cotton yarns. Thus, there was no adjustability to the fringe and the amount of fringe needed Was equal to the perimeter of the base of the furniture being covered.

In the upholstering of furniture, the fact that the fringe was not adjustable did not present a serious problem, since the amount of fringe could easily be pre-determined by exact measurements. However, in the ready-made slip cover industry this preciseness was not available, since a given slip cover had to be adapted to covering a large variety of sizes and shapes of furniture. Therefore, the fringe generally had to be included as a separate item with the ready-made slip cover. After the purchaser placed the ready-made s'lip cover on the furniture, the fringe was then secured on the furniture separately. This securement was usually accomplished through screw pins, thereby presenting a number of disadvantages. Thus, when the base of the furniture had exposed wood, the screw pins could not be secured in the Wood. Likewise, the securement of the screw pins in the fabric always entailed the possibility that the screw pins would come out of place if the furniture were moved.

The fringe of this invention presents numerous advantages over the non-stretchable fringe of the prior art. In the first place, by its very nature of being stretchable, the fringe is readily adjustable. A significant advantage of the fringe of this invention is the fact that it can be presecured directly to any stretchable ready-made slip cover. Thus the fringe can stretch to the same extent as the slip cover when the slip cover is applied to a piece of furniture. v

Another advantage of the fringe of this invention is economy in use. Thus in the ready-made slip cover art, it was necessary Vto include three and one-half yards of fringe with a slip cover for a chair in order to insure that the largest chair would still be covered by the fringe. Using the fringe of this invention only two yards are required.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel fringe.

It is another object of this stretchable fringe.

It is a further object of this invention lto provide a novel fringe that is particularly adapted to being used yin the upholstering and covering of furniture.

It is a further object of this invention-to provide a novel fringe that is economical in use.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a stretchable fringe that is adapted to be incorporated in stretchable ready-made furniture slip covers.

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a fringe comprising warp threads and filling threads, said filling threads having dependent portions which comprise the fringes, said warp threads comprising .an elastic yarn.

invention to provide a 'ice Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred ernbodiment of the fringe of this invention in its relaxed condition;

FIG. 2 is a partial front elevational view of the fringe of FIG. 1 in a fu'lly stretched condition;

FIG. 3 is a partial rear elevational view of the fringe of FIG. l in a slightly stretched condition;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of 4a second embodiment of the fringe of this invention in a relaxed condition;

FIG. 5 is a partial front elevational view of the fringe of FIG. 4 in a fully stretched condition;

FIG. 6 is a partial rear elevational view of the fringe of FIG. 4 in a slightly stretched condition;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a third embodiment of the fringe of this invention in a relaxed condition;

FIG. 8 is a partial front elevation-al view of the fringe of FIG. 7 in a slightly stretched condition;

FIG. 9 is a partial rear elevational view of -the fringe of FIG. 7 in a slightly stretched condition;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic perspective view of one method of making the fringe of this invention;

FIGS. 1l, 12 and 13 show the series of steps of making the warp knit stitches of the fringe of this invention;

FIG. 14 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary diagrammatic front elevational view of the stretched fringe shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic view showing the stitches on the fringe of FIG. 14; and

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a stretchable slip cover which includes the fringe of this invention as a skirt.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, a stretchable fringe embodying the present invention is generally shown at 20 in FIG. l. Fringe 20 basically comprises warp threads 22 (FIG. 3), filling threads 24 forming a backing, filling threads 26 which depend from the lowermost warp threads 22 thereby forming fringes and warp threads 28 which `are laid in over backing threads 24 thereby forming a heading for the backing.

Warp threads 22 .are stretchable yarns with backing threads 24, fringe threads 26, and heading threads 28 being non-stretchable yarns. The warp threads 22 can be made of any stretchable material such Ias natural or synthetic rubber or stretch nylon. They are usually wrapped with anon-stretchable yarn which is identical to the yarn of the lling and heading threads of the fringe. Thus when the other threads comprise cotton, warp threads 22 can conveniently be made of rubber yarn wrapped with cotton. The non-stretchable threads 24, 26 and 28 comprise twisted yarns in order to obtain the desired resiliency and fullness for the fringe. As is apparent, fringe yarns 26 are heavier than the other yarns, as is common to the art -of fringes. Thus yarns 26 can be 8 count, 2 ply cotton yarns.

lFringe 2t) is shown in its relaxed condition in FIIG. l. When it is applied to an article of furniture, it will be stretched to the extent necessary to entirely cover the perimeter of the furniture. Since the warp yarns 22 are elastic, the fringe is stretched longitudinally. In i-ts stretched condition .the appearance of the fringe will still be Igenerally that shown at 20 in FIG. l. This is because the heavier yarns forming the backing 24 have a certain inherent resiliency which permits the yarns to expand when the .tension of the elastic warp threads 22 is lessened. Additionally, the heading yarns 28 are in a puckered condition. Therefore when the fringe is expanded the heading yarns will likewise expand still giving a closed or continuous appearance to the fringe. lln FIG. 2, the fringe is shown in a fully expanded condition merely for the purpose of illustration. In actual use, however, the fringe Iwill not be stretched to this extent since allowances will be made in selecting the proper size for ,the fringe to insure a continuous appearance. Tihus, in use, exposed areas 30 will not be present. Instead, backing yarns 24 will be contiguous and a continuous pattern will also be presented by .the puckered heading yarns 28. In this manner, the stretchable fringe of this invention ywill have the same appearance as the conventional non-stretchable fringes of the prior art.

In FIG. 4 a second embodiment of the fringe of this invention is generally shown at 312. This embodiment also includes elastic warp threads 34, non-elastic filling threads 36, non-elastic Ifilling threads 38 forming the fringes and non-elastic warp threads 40 forming the heading. It is thus seen that fringe 32 contains the same basic elements as fringe 2i). Likewise, in use fringe 3Q. will function in the same manner as fringe 20. One of the major differences between fringe 20 and fringe 32 is that the fringe threads 3-8 and backing threads 36 are unitary. Thus the backing and fringe threads are formed from a continuous yarn rather than having individual yarns forming these elements as in embodiment 20. Another distinotion resides in the design of the heading fonmed by warp threads 40. In embodiment 20 the heading threads were parallel whereas in embodiment 32 the heading threads are formed in pairs which continually cross each other. Functionally however the heading threads are identical.

A third embodiment of the fringe of this invention is generally shown at 42 in lFIG. 7. IFringe 42 includes elastic warp threads 44, non-elastic filling threads 46 which form a backing, non-elastic lling .threads 48 which form the fringes and non-elastic `w-arp threads 50 which for-m a heading. Again, to this extent, this embodiment contains the same functional threads as embodiment 20 and 32. However, in this embodiment the heading threads, rather than appearing in pairs, are individual threads which are twisted and tied in by adjacent pairs of elastic Warp threads 44 as best `seen in FIG. 8. Additionally, a central wanp thread 52 remains untwisted but appears in a continuous wave pattern and is also tied in by the elastic warp threads. iIn this embodiment the fringes 48 are separate from the 'backing threads 46 and depend from the bo-ttom of the backing. IFringes 418 are tied in by the lowerrnost elastic warp threads 44.

As previously pointed out the fringes of this invention can be made from any materials currently used for making the non-stretchable fringes. Tlhe one major distinction resides in the use of the elastic warp threads. The non-elastic threads can be made from any yarns known to the art such as cotton, rayon, nylon, or any of the polyesters, such as Daeron, or mixtures thereof.

The fringes of this invention can be made by any process known to ithe art for the making of fringes. Thus they can be either woven or knitted. In -the embodiment shown, the fringes have been made by a Warp knitting process. IOne form of this process is shown schematically at '54 in FIG. 10. The :warp knitting machine schematically shown in FIG. basically includes a slotted block 56 having la-tch needles 58 vertically reciprocable within the vertical slots in block 56. A pair of rollers 60 and 62 are co-acting and serve as draw rollers for the fringe being formed on the machine. These rollers also regulate the tension on elastic threads 22 forming the warp of ithe fninge. Threads 22 are fed through spools across movable rollers 64. These threads are received in slots 65 in block 56. The feeding of the threads 22 is in the parallel arrangement shown in FIG. 1U. Simultaneously with the feeding of warp threads 22 filling threads 24 are fed through reciprocating tube 66. Tube 66 reciprocates back and forth behind elastic threads 22 as indicated by arrow 68. Likewise, reciprocating tube 7d lfeeds filling threads 26 which form the fringes. As indicated by arrow 72, tube 70 reciprocates from the position shown in FIG. 10 to stationary hook 731` and back again. Hook 73 maintains the loop of the fringe in place until the fninge yarns are tied in with the warp stitches formed from warp threads 22.

Non-stretchable warp threads l28 are fed .through stationary tubes 74. These threads are also tied in by the stitches fonmed from elastic warp threads 22. Since the elastic warp threads are under tension during the formation of the fringe fabric, warp threads 28 will have the stretched appearance 4shown in FIG. 10. However, when the nished fringe -is removed from the machine, the warp threads 22 will contract thereby giving warp Ithreads 2S the puckered appearance shown in FIG. l.

Using rthe process shown in FIG. 10, filling threads 24 and 26 and warp threads 28 are -tiedfin by the warp stitches formed from elastic warp .threads 22. This process is similar to that which would normally be carried out on a w-arp knitting machine. However, in the past, the -warp knitting machines were used to produce non-stretchable fringes.

The process of forming the stitches with latch needles 5S is generally shown in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13. Latch needle 58 is of Ia construction which is common to the art and includes a stern 76, a neck 78 with upper hook Si) and a freely pivotable latch 82. Latch 82 is pivotable around pin 84 which is received within a slot in neck 7 8.

The formation of the stitches is shown in FIGS. l1, l2 and 13. The warp threads 22 are shown in a relaxed condition for the purpose of clarity. It is to be understood, however, that threads 22 will Ibe in their taut condition, which is shown in FIG. 10, during the actual process of forming the fringe. The position of the rollers 64 in FIG. 10 corresponds to the condition of the warp threads 22 `shown in FIG. 11. Thus the formation of a stitch 86 has just been completed. It is seen that stitch 86 appears in the nature of -a loop. As will be more fully explained hereinafter, it is these loops which actually tie together the filling threads and the warp threads (Z8 which form the heading. Again it is to be recalled that these stitches are made with an elastic yarn and therefore will tightly secure the non-elastic yarns.

After a stitch 86 has been formed, rollers 64 are rotated in an arc as shown by arrow 88 in FIG. 10. When the arc is completed the rollers 64 will be returned to the position shown in FIG. 10. However, during the formation of the arc, warp threads 22 engage hooks 80 of the latch needles, as shown in FIG. 12. Simultaneously with the return of rollers 64 latch needles 58 are reciprocated downwardly as shown by arrow 90 in FIG. 12. With the downward movement of needle 58, as previously formed loop 92 (FIG. 12) will engage the undersurface of latch 82. Continued downward movement of the latch needle will cause the abutment of latch 82 against hook 80, thereby closing the latch. As the latch 58 progresses below the top of block 56, loop 92 will be cast off latch needle 58 and pass over block 56 as shown in FIG. 13. Thus loop 92 will form a new stitch 94. Again it is to be recalled that since the warp threads 22 are under constant tension loop 92 will automatically be pulled to the position shown in FIG. 13.

After the new stitch has been formed, latch needle 58 will reciprocate upwardly. Simultaneously with this upward movement, the needle will pass through newly formed loop 96 (FIG. 13) and latch 82 will again drop to the position shown in FIG. 11. At this point the latch needle 58 will again be in position to repeat the cycle just described. Continuation of this cycle continues to produce new stitches. During the entire process, the various non-stretchable threads are being received within the stitches of stretchable threads 22.

-After the fringe fabric has been formed in the manner described, it is steamed thereby causing the fringe yarns 26 to curl in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 to 9. This is a conventional method of forming curled fringe yarns.

Although the process has been described with respect to the formation of the fringe shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, it is to be understood that the process is easily adapted to the formation of fringes 32 and 42 as would be obvious to one skilled in the art.

In FIGS. 14 and l5 the stitches and their manner ofv securing the non-elastic threads are shown schematically. Referring more particularly to FIG. 15, the stitches formed from the elastic threads are shown schematically at 96 and the non-elastic filling threads are shown schematically at 98. As seen in FIG. 15, each stitch basically comprises a loop 100 which is positioned beneath the filling threads and strand 102 which is positioned on top of the filling threads and passes through the loop. Together the strand and loop comprise a single stitch. The continuity of the stitches is easily visible from FIG. 15.

The manner in which the various non-elastic threads of the fringe shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are secured by the stitches is shown in FIG. 14. In FIG. 14, the stitches are again designated 96. The loops of the stitches lie beneath the filling and non-elastic warp threads. The filling threads 24 which comprise the backing reciprocate back and forth through adjacent stitches in each row. Thus one thickness of thread 24 will be received in each stitch 96. The non-elastic Warp threads 28 which form the backing are held by two adjacent stitches 96, are unsecured for the next two adjacent stitches 96, and then are held by the succeeding pair of stitches 96. For this reason, the large unsecured puckered portion 104 is obtained.

In embodiment 20 of the fringe which is shown in FIG. 14, filling threads 26 which form the fringes are tied in solely in the lowermost two rows of elastic stitches 96. For the purpose of clarity, only one row is shown 1n FIG. 14. One strand of thread 26 is secured within each stitch 96. As seen in FIG. 14, each of the lowermost stitches 96 must secure a backing thread 24 and a fringe thread 26. For this reason, the fringe will have the bowed appearance shown in FIG. 1 in its relaxed condition. This is because there is a greater amount of compression at the top of the fringe than at the bottom, in View of the presence of the extra fringe threads at the bottom of the fringe.

Embodiments 32 and 42 of the fringe are constructed in the same manner as that described for fringe 20. Thus, all of the nonaelastic strands will be tied in by the elastic warp yarns.

A preferred use of the fringe of this invention is on stretchable ready-made slip covers. As seen in FIG. 16 a chair having a stretchable ready-made slip cover 106 is shown. The base of this slip cover is provided with a skirt 108 which is permanently secured thereto, as by stitching. Skirt 108 can be any of the fringe of this invention.

The fringe of this invention is adapted to be used with any stretchable slip cover. Thus it can be used with the slip cover shown in United States Patent No. 2,839,127 or in my prior United States Patent No. 3,117,817.

Although the fringe of this invention is particularly adapted to be used with stretchable slip covers, it can also be used with any non-stretchable slip cover. A preferred manner of use is to have two loose ends of the fringe stitched together to form the fringe into a continuous loop. The loop can then be stretched over the slip cover and held in place solely by the tension of the elastic within the fringe.

An additional advantage of using the fringe of this invention for this purpose is that it performs a hold-down function. Thus, in the past, it was normally necessary to use hooks or screw pins to secure the bottom of the non-stretchable ready-made slip covers in place. Howlever, using the fringe of this invention, the elasticity of the fringe will serve the same function and the prior hooks or screw pins can be eliminated.

It is thus seen that when used with slip covers, the fringe of this invention can be pre-attached or unattached. Thus it can be sewn to a slip cover or it can be sold in the form of a loop and stretched over the slip cover after the slip cover has been placed on the furniture. A particular feature of the fringe of this invention is that it can stretch to approximately of its length during use, while still retaining its ornamental appearance. Having knowledge of this fact can aid a purchaser in buying the fringe of this invention in the` form of yard goods. Thus, it is a generally accepted fact in the slip cover industry that three and one-half yards of fringe will accommodate almost any chair when serving as a skirt. Therefore a shopkeeper can sell approximately two yards of the stretchable fringe of this invention and be reasonably certain that this amount of fringe will be adapted to covering the base of a chair. Likewise, three and one-half yards of the fringe of this invention will normally accommodate most sofas.

Since the fringe of this invention is readily adapted to be sewn into a loop and placed over various items of furniture, it will also find utility as an ornamental fringe for any piece of upholstered furniture, regardless of whether it is covered. Thus a consumer can easily change the appearance of a given item of upholstered furniture merely by periodically removing the loop of fringe and replacing it with a new one.

The fringe of this invention also finds utility for any use of the prior non-stretchable fringes. Since the fringe is stretchable it is readily adapted for use on various different lengths of items. Some of the other uses that may be made of this fringe are cornices for draperies or ornamentation for lamp shades. In this connection, it is to be noted that the particular use for the fringe will dictate the types of yarns being made into the fringe. Thus for lamp shades, fine combed yarns can be used. Alternatively, for use in upholstery, heavier carded yarns can be used.

The fringe of this invention is ornamental in appearance. During use it will give the appearance of the prior art woven fringes. This is especially true in View of the fact that the non-stretchable yarns have an inherent resiliency and will expand when the fringe is stretched to give a non-porous appearance. The headings on the fringe aid in concealing any openings within the backing when the fringe is stretched. This is because the headings are laid in with the elastic warp yarns in a stretched condition.

Although the fringe has been described as being manufactured on a warp knitting machine it is to be understood that it can be formed by any process known to the art which will produce a longitudinally stretchable yarn. Thus the fringe can also be woven with the warp comprising the elastic yarns. To this extent the process will be similar to any of the prior art processes of making woven fringes, such as those disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,522,863 and No. 1,583,896.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A stretchable fringe `comprising warp threads and filling threads, said warp threads including elastic yarns, and said filling threads comprising non-elastic yarns, with said filling threads being bound by said elastic warp threads, said filling threads including dependent portions projecting from the lowermost elastic warp threads, thereby forming fringes, whereby said fringe may be stretched by expanding said elastic yarns, and additional warp threads which overlie said filling threads and are bound by said elastic warp threads, said additional warp threads being in a puckered condition and adapted to expand when said elastic Warp threads are stretched.

2'. The stretchable fringe of claim 1 wherein said dependent portions are separate from the remainder of said lling threads.

3. The stretchable fringe of claim 1 wherein said dependent portions are unitary with the remainder of said filling threads.

4. The stretchable fringe of claim 1 wherein said filling and additional warp threads are secured within knit stitches formed from said elastic warp threads.

5. The stretchable fringe of claim 4 wherein said additional warp threads are non-elastic.

`6. The stretchable fringe of claim 1 wherein said elastic warp threads comprise rubber yarns wrapped with cotton and said iilling and additional warp threads comprise cotton yarns.

7. A stretchable fringe comprising warp threads and filling threads, said Warp threads including elastic yarns, and said filling threads comprising non-elastic yarns, with said filling threads being bound by said elastic warp References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 638,193 11/1899 Weber 139-385 1,746,790 2/1930 Newman 66-170 2,222,944 11/1940 Gerson 66-170 2,266,678 12/1941 Krasnov et al 66-170 2,706,898 4/1955 Gross et al 66-193 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, Examiner.

threads, said filling threads including dependent portions 20 P C FAW, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A STRETCHABLE FRINGE COMPRISING WARP THREADS AND FILLING THREADS, SAID WARP THREADS INCLUDING ELASTIC YARNS, AND SAID FILLING THREADS COMPRISING NON-ELASTIC YARNS, WITH SAID FILLING THREADS BEING BOUND BY SAID ELASTIC WARP THREADS, SAID FILLING THREADS INCLUDING DEPENDENT PORTIONS PROJECTING FROM THE LOWERMOST ELASTIC WARP THREADS, THEREBY FORMING FRINGES, WHEREBY SAID FRINGE MAY BE STRETCHED BY EXPANDING SAID ELASTIC YARNS, AND ADDITIONAL WARP THREADS WHICH OVERLIE SAID FILLING THREADS AND ARE BOUND BY SAID ELASTIC WARP THREADS, SAID ADDITIONAL WARP THREADS BEING IN A PUCKERED CONDITION AND ADAPTED TO EXPAND WHEN SAID ELASTIC WARP THREADS ARE STRETCHED. 